Tag Archives: Islam

I work for a weekly newspaper. I’m a graphic designer, and I often distance myself here on this blog from my work. Because it’s proper to distance yourself from your work when attempting to discuss politics and world events.

Recently, we’ve witnessed terrible attacks in Paris that have claimed lives. These attacks were organized by European nationals who allied themselves with Daesh (ISIL). Other attacks have happened in Beirut, Nigeria, Pakistan and other countries. But often, the media tends to ignore them because they aren’t in Europe or North America. Many of the other attacks were carried out by agents of Daesh or Boko Haram (who famously kidnapped and sold over 200 teenage girls from a school).

In response to those attacks, many Muslim organizations have denounced the attacks. Here in West Central Saskatchewan, there is a mosque not far from Unity (in another city, I’ll leave the name out because I don’t wish for them to be attacked by useless Internet trolls). This mosque happens to be the home of a denomination of Islam that takes all of the very peace loving aspects of the Koran to heart. It’s a small denomination, and in other parts of the world they are often the targets of terrorist activities (surprise! Muslims often suffer the most from Muslim extremists).

This mosque recently sent a letter to the editor to our newspaper, denouncing the attacks, offering prayers to the victims and citing that this is not something that Islam aspires to be. It’s something that over the past 14 years since 9-11 we’ve heard from Muslim organizations across North America.

But they shouldn’t have to. I feel as though they’ve been forced into doing this to appease the fear mongers and right wing bigots. Every time something like this happens, the right wing bigots turn up the hate and turn up the fear mongering and look toward the Muslim community in Canada and start snarling at it. And like clockwork, the Muslim community denounces it. On the one hand, yes, we should all be denouncing incredible attacks of violence and seeking to end this conflict by finding a peaceful solution and helping the affected countries build themselves up (not with occupying forces). We, being non-Muslims, don’t denounce attacks like what happened to 9 parishioners who were gunned down in a church by a racist militant. We don’t step up and denounce the shooting of random civilians in Noway. We don’t denounce the attacks against women and people of colour by someone who writes a manifesto blaming feminists.

Okay, often we do, but we’re not expected to.

The language we use as non-Muslims to denounce a shooting incident is worded very differently than when a Muslim organization denounces an attack as what happened in Paris. And what we say and when we say it is very different than when Muslims prepare for something similar. And they shouldn’t have to. We shouldn’t demand that a mosque in the middle of the Canadian Prairies immediately put out a press release denouncing these attacks.

It should be us, we non-Muslims, immediately turning around and saying we will protect our Muslim neighbours in Canada to ensure they do not fall victim to acts of violence, and that they do not fall victim to the charisma of a violent organization. We will do that by ensuring their safety as we ensure all Canadians safety, by helping to grow a strong economy that will guarantee they have employment so they can raise their families, and to ensure they have the best access to educational and medical establishments as every other Canadian has.

It should be we as Canadians reaching out to Muslims to give them hope that we see them as our countrymen, as our neighbours and as our friends. Because they are being affected by these terrible acts of violence just as badly as the rest of us are.

Like this:

Earlier this week, Rupert Murdoch said in a tweet that all Muslims need to be held accountable for the recent terror attacks in Paris (one might assume that may have also included the town that was wiped out in Nigeria, but I’m gonna go on the side of common sense and say that no, Rupert Murdoch was not talking about the deaths of thousands of brown people). In rebuttal, Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling tweeted “I was born Christian. If that makes Rupert Murdoch my responsibility, I’ll auto-excommunicate”. As Australian television presenter Adam Hills said “wow, you know you’re doing bad shit when the woman who created Voldemort thinks you’re evil”.

Hills brought up a point, though. There are 1.6 billion followers of Islam in the world. If Islam really was a breeding ground for terror, we’d all be fucking dead right now. With even just rough estimates as to the number of members of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and Boko Haram, the percentage of terrorists within Islam is still only 0.000175 percent. Less than half of 1 percent. And that 0.000175 percent as an actual number; 28,000. 28,000 is still a pretty massive number. Here in Saskatchewan, that’s larger than the population of North Battleford. That’s half of Moose Jaw. And that number is still only 0.000175 percent of all followers of Islam.

Sure, there’s those who say that there is a larger number of Muslims who secretly agree with the actions of that 0.000175 percent. Somehow, I doubt even that number is over 1% of all of Islam. I’m pretty sure that the other 99% percent of those who follow Islam are actually just trying to get on with their day, just like the rest of us.

And this shitty behaviour isn’t new. During the American Civil War, in the British Houses of Parliament and the Canadian Legislature at the time, politicians were cheering for every Confederate victory. Because that meant the continuation of cheap textiles.

So does that mean that Christians should be held accountable for all the shitty things done here? The list is pretty long. From FLQ terrorists in Quebec during the October Crisis to the Wako, Texas cult that finally committed suicide as they were surrounded by Firearms and Tobacco to the people of Jonestown. How about every single white man who gets pissed off, picks up a gun and shoots up a school? Instead of labeling them as poor, misguided, and troubled youth, how about we start branding them as the monsters that they really are, who decided to take the lives of dozens of children, or college students, or theatre goers. What about every fucking douchebag who thinks he’s entitled to a woman and threatens to kill her or take that next step and end the life of a woman just because she won’t fucking date him.

If we demand that the leaders of Islam take responsibility for the terrorism that has claimed thousands of lives, then we Christians better start claiming responsibility for ever Ecole Polytechnic, every Dawson College, every Columbine, every Oklahoma City, and every fucking idiotic Fox News presenter.

While we deride one religion for the atrocities of a few, we better recognize that there’s an equally shitty number within our own religion.

First, one has to sit back and detach themselves from what we in the West have identified with what we are familiar with for haunted places. The closest we know about African or Middle Eastern ghost stories or hauntings would be lore about ancient tombs in Egypt being opened. To some extent, this could also include romanticized versions of Eastern European ghost stories that include Dracula.

The second thing one has to do is explore the culture and religion that is predominant in the Middle East. Like in the West, where the predominant religion is Christianity, it is not the only religion. And in some cases there are those who do not identify with any religion. In the Middle East, the predominant religion is Islam. Islam, naturally, is not confined to just the Middle East, as there are those in North Africa and moving into Central, South Central, and Eastern Asia who are devote followers of Islam.

In Islam, and in the Quran, there is no mention of ghosts, but there is mention of Jinn, or an alternate spelling djinn. These are described as supernatural spirits that live in the unseen dimensions of the universe beyond human sight. The jinn are mentioned quite frequently in the Quran, and the 72nd sura of the Quran is titled Sūrat al-Jinn. The Jinn, together with humans and angels, are considered to be the three sentient beings created by God.

We now have that bit of research, but I know there’s several who jumped in excitement because of the familiar “djinn”. Another spelling is in fact genies, but this is completely removed from the Disney Aladdin which is again a Western view of the Middle East. In Arabic, jinn means (loosely) “hidden from sight”, or “to hide” or “to be hidden”. The word genie comes from the Latin genius, which was believed to be a guardian spirit assigned to protect a person from birth. While jinn is referenced frequently in the Quran, the word has pre-Islamic history. Markings found in Northwestern Arabia refer to the worshiping of jinni or at least their tributary status.

In Islamic times, jinn were seen similar to humans in that they have free will. They live in communities similar to humans, but often in remote locations and even in the air. While they appear invisible to humans, humans do not appear clearly to jinn. They have customs, laws, kings and queens and even mourning rituals. The Quran says that upon the day of judgement, even the jinn will be judged and sent to live in Paradise or Hell depending upon their actions. Jinn, because they have free will, often dictate their actions either as good or evil. Some will aid humans, while others will find delight in provoking or harming them.

There are major differences between jinn as viewed in the West and in the East. Some might even say culture shock, especially as experienced in such writings as The Caliph’s House and In Arabian Nights by Tahir Shah. Tahir Shah moved from London to Morocco and lived in what was described as a jinn occupied home. And just to make the distinction, In Arabian Nights has very little to do with the adventure story 1001 Arabian Nights, which is a collection of folktales from the region. Tahir Shah, by the way, born in London, is a humourist author who has also been involved politically in creating the East-West Bridge, which came about after the September 11 attacks.

Often people can create a protection against any ill will a jinn may want to cause. A talisman or tawiz as referred to among Sufi circles, will aid in the protection against spiritual evil. This includes the protection against jinn, who, as mentioned before, are considered to have free will of their own.

As far as hauntings go, there may in fact be haunted places anywhere in the Middle East. Civilizations in that region has existed for thousands of years. But as much as I could find, there is always those who point to places which are not so much haunted, but very spiritual. Those include:

Mount Ararat (Eastern Turkey) – Very important symbol of Armenian culture. In addition, the Bible mentions the “Mountains of Ararat” as the resting spot for Noah’s Ark.

Mount Arafat (near Mecca, Saudi Arabia) – A very small mountain (more like a large hill) where Muhammed is supposed to have given his Farewell Sermon 72 days before his death. It remains an important part of the “Hajj” – an important Islamic pilgrimage that takes place in Mecca, which every muslim is to take at least once in their lifetime.

Much of what I did find was located in Afghanistan, which isn’t really in the Middle East, it’s actually in Central Asia. Greater Middle East, perhaps. But it’s not IN the Middle East, especially when one considers it borders Pakistan. However, there are a couple of notable instances which could be called hauntings.

Afghan – Tajikistan border – Hindu Kush mountains – The “Ail”, feminine looking entities with floating hair, pale eyes resembling milky white orbs and glacier pale skin are said to inhabit the region whenever the suns rises so high, that you cannot see your own shadow, or at twilight. Even though they normally go on about their business, it is best to treat them with respect, since the Ail are known to be quite violent and hostile. That is why you almost never see any villagers or nomads out during those times in the day.
Kabul – Kabul University – It has been told that some of the abandoned dorms and abandoned classrooms were used by the Taliban to torture and kill people whom dare defy them. While some foreign aid workers were helping out on re-building Kabul University, it was said by many that they smelled the foul scent of rotting flesh, feces and other bodily wastes. Others said they also saw the entities of the victims that were tortured to death by the Taliban or heard screaming and crying in pain, when there was no one there.

Like this:

As many of you know, I work at a weekly newspaper for a small town. The area isn’t that large and we don’t have a lot of staff, so we rely on our readership to get some news to us. We also have community news, which is happenings in and around the different communities in the area of Lake Diefenbaker. Some of those correspondents will add a quote at the end of each news write up for the week. I’ve shared several here.

This one caught my eye, not only for the quote itself, but also by who it is quoting.

“The Friend of God has these three qualities; a generosity like that of the ocean, a compassion like that of the sun, and a humility like that of the earth.” ~Bayazid, Tadhkirat

Bayazid Bastami (Persianبايزيد بسطامى ), also known as Abu Yazid Bistami or Tayfur Abu Yazid al-Bustami, (804-874 or 877/8[1] CE) was a Persian[2]Sufi born in Bastam, Iran.

Essentially, the use of this quote and the fact it originated from Islamic origins says something about people in this area. For the most part, people in the Lake Diefenbaker region are not quick to get caught up in the furor of hyped inaccuracy. And they are open minded and tolerant enough to see things as they should be seen. Something beautiful and worth learning. We’ve still got a way to go in this area of Saskatchewan, if not the entire province, but I think we’re leaps and bounds ahead of where we could be.

Like this:

In “THE 99,” Naif Al-Mutawa’s new generation of comic book heroes fight more than crime — they smash stereotypes and battle extremism. Named after the 99 attributes of Allah, his characters reinforce positive messages of Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework for confronting evil, even teaming up with the Justice League of America.

Like this:

Before I begin, let me first state that this photo originally was found at this flickr page. It’s meant to be artistic and symbolize something as it states in the description.

The photographer made the comment that it was the second roll of film, and it took forever to get the right photo and was pleased with the result. It also had this comment in italics.

I’ll open this book and blow the dust from these pages of desire and lust. I’ll search for a spell perfect for you… ‘Cause I need to get you enchanted with me too

It was art, so my opening preamble about this image really has nothing to do with what the artist was attempting to convey. I just know what my reaction upon seeing it was.

What I saw, before reading anything else or exploring the photographer’s flickr stream, was that I saw a burning book. And then came my abject horror. Anybody who knows me should also know I hate book burning with a passion. It’s not so much the act of getting rid of something unwanted, I get that. We have recycle programs for unwanted newspapers and even books. Often times there are too many books to be sold. Not everyone will buy a book, and therefore, the unwanted books have to go somewhere. Sometimes a library, sometimes a school, but often times they are recycled, or destroyed because there just isn’t any need for them.

Those are different than the more thought of uses for burning a book. Which is to destroy it for the sake of erasing the text printed on the pages. It’s a barbaric form of censorship. Censorship is something else I have a major problem with, because it’s such a fine line to walk. That’s something I’ll get into at another time. Book burning, however, is very much a violent way of showing disapproval of the printed word. We’ve seen it over the course of history, the most recent and famous of which has been in Nazi Germany, when books by Jewish authors, scholars and philosophers were destroyed in very public means. We’ve seen several more different scenarios as of late, shocking, but not the whole sale destruction as what took place during and before the Second World War.

One of those has been groups, mostly in the States and mostly by right wing fundamentalist Christian groups, that have burned books from the Harry Potter series. Really? Honestly? A children’s book? I can see, in their defense, why they would have come up with this notion. The book is about witches and wizards at a school, set somewhere in England. As it states in the Bible, witchcraft is a devilish thing. But what got me is that the book was accused of teach children witchcraft. So, I say again: really? If you believe that it’s not for your child, then don’t let your child read it. Oh, and if you have no children, then don’t get into the discussion. Parents need to read books with their child. Parenting isn’t something where you plop the child in front of the television and just hope for the best while feeding them, clothing them and sending them to school. I’ve known a good number of parents that have read the entire Harry Potter series with their children and made it a very wonderful experience.

I know the comparison with Twilight and Harry Potter is out there, really, I do. And I even know that there have been those who burned copies of Twilight in response to the burning of Harry Potter books. My disgust envelopes those people as well. Saying that burning a book is reprehensible, especially a book from a series you might like, then turning around and burning another book is hypocritical. It’s also not helping.

The other book which has seen it’s share of threats to help stoke the flames is not a fictional book, persay. It, like the Holy Bible, is a book which millions and millions of people follow faithfully. It’s called the Qu’ran. In this case, however, the burning of this book isn’t about reading to children. It’s all about religious intolerance. I will admit, religion is the motivator in the burning of Harry Potter books, but burning the Qu’ran is fueled with such a venomous hatred. The complete intolerance to a religion that those who accuse it of being the heart of terrorism are only acting on their own fears and misguided understanding. They say it’s an evil book, yet don’t even take the time to open it and read what it has to say. They’ll burn it without hesitation, unless so shamed by the rest of the world. What exactly would burning the Qu’ran do, except fuel the hatred and intolerance, and ignorance of a religion. Instead of learning what they can of the religion, most who suffer from the seemingly incurable disease of Islamophobia, will react with knee jerk assumptions and “popular opinion” of the time. These people don’t even try to take the opportunity to understand the religion, nor do they take the time to decipher between what is part of the religion and what is part of the culture from where the religion is practiced.

Book burning is a very vile form of censorship, that speaks to people that it’s okay to belittle ideas. It says “your work is reprehensible, therefore it must be destroyed”. Which can only develop a cycle that another group might find a work reprehensible. After all, what if a group so publicly stated they were going to burn a Bible. Think of the reaction there would be to that. There might even be those that would demand a call to arms and be willing to go to war.

Now, sit back and think for just a moment. Harry Potter fans may not band together in the face of such an insult, but do you not think for a minute that the reaction to the burning of the Bible would not be the very same reaction to the burning of the Qu’ran?

Considering that the discussion is going to include the dress and formal style of women in the Roman Catholic Church, and comparing them to another group of women who recently have been receiving a great deal of backlash; Muslim women.

I really had to pause and think about this after I saw a small cartoon. It showed two women (in the Asian style of art), one dressed in a nun’s habit, and the other wearing what appears to be the hijab, or Muslim head scarf. The caption above the nun said “a nun can be covered head to toe in order to devote herself to God, right?” The caption above the Muslim woman then read “But if a Muslim girl does the same, why is she oppressed?” It’s an interesting argument, and opinions are scattered across the world on the meaning behind the hijab, burka, niqab and so on.

There’s different views on the Islamic dress for women. Some say it’s very much an oppressive set of clothing that is forced upon women. Now yes, there are cases like that, but you can point to any organized religion and see the very same thing. Shocking, I know, but even in the Christian faith there are examples of oppression. There are also a large number of women within the Islamic faith who willingly wear the hijab, niqab or burka as a proclamation of their faith. Just like Roman Catholic Nuns do. And even within the ranks of the Roman Catholic Church, not all nuns wear the fully covering habit that is often thought of when a nun is discussed.

Recently various governments throughout the world have declared that they wish to ban the burka (and other Muslim head coverings). France and Quebec have been at the forefront of this. I researched the Muslim population of Quebec, which has the second largest population of Islamic worshipers with just over 100,000 (Nunavut claims the least with 30, and that territory is building a mosque). But let’s clarify things. In Quebec, the government has stated that the burka and niqab are not welcome in schools and medical facilities, and other provinces are considering a similar ban. This, however, is contradictory to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states under Section 2(a) the wearing of the hijab is permitted in schools and medical facilities. Even the furniture giant, IKEA, has developed its own Muslim friendly head scarf for Muslim employees, with the first in Canada being in Edmonton to adopt the IKEA head scarf.

But the talking heads south of the border would have the entire world believe that anyone wearing the Islamic garb is equal to a terrorist. News flash: the individuals that struck out against America on 9/11 were terrorists, who just happened to be Islamic. They aren’t any different than the individuals who fire bombed Planned Parenting clinics recently in the States. Those individuals claimed to be Christian. Religious affiliation aside, both groups have one thing in common. They’re terrorists, plain and simple. They wish to spread fear and cause injury using acts of violence. While the individuals that caused nearly 3,000 deaths over nine years ago were Islamic, that does not mean that Islam condoned those actions. Just as Christianity and the different denomination did not condone the fire bombing of a Planned Parenting clinic. Or the burning of the Qu’ran.

The talking heads need to read their Bible. After that, we in Canada need to read the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and we need to remember that many Muslims were born in Canada, while others came here to escape oppression. Instead, what they are finding is just more of it. That needs to stop. If we can look at a nun and find nothing wrong with a full covering of a traditional nun’s habit, then we should give the same respect to a woman of Islam who by choice would wear the hijab or burka to express her own faith.